Dipping-frame for glassware.



H. WIGKHAM & L. T. HUGHB$.

DIPPING FRAME FOR GLASSWARB.

APPLIOATION TILED 00123, 1912.

1,096,978, Patented May 19, 1914.

UNITED r srA'rEs regular oFFIoE.

HOWARD WICKHAMAND LEO THOMAS HUGHES, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA; SAID HUGHES ASSIGNOR T0 SAID WICKHAM.

DIPPING-FRAME FOR GLASSWARE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 19, 1914.

Application filed October 23, 1912. Serial No. 727,324.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, HOWARD WICKHAM and Leo T. Huornis, citizens of the United States, residing at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful lm provements in Dipping-Frames for Glassware, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to dipping frames for glassware.

Gut glass after having been cut, requires dipping in acid, usually sulfuric and hydrofluoric to accomplish the eating away of the grayish color which is left, such dipping being but momentary, usually only about one minute. The dipping of tumblers, glasses, and other articles having a smooth, plain edge and which are only ornamented on the exterior has heretofore been attended with much difficulty, as it is necessary to prevent the acid having access to the interior of the tumbler or other glass, while at the same time permitting the acid to act upon the outer surface of the tumbler right up to the rim or edge thereof. It has heretofore been proposed to provide a frame in which glass ware can be held while being dipped, but so far as we are aware, no satisfactory frame or holder of this character has ever been provided, although attempts have been made in that direction. The common practice among glass manufacturers is to apply paraffin with a brush to the interior of the tumbler or other article prior to dipping which is a slow and expensive operation, or, to employ rubber balls placed in the mouth of the article, also an unsatisfactory expedient.

Our object is to provide a dipping frame or holder for tumblers and other glass articles which will obviate the necessity of coating or covering the interior of the tumbler or the use of rubber balls and will permit of the quick and easy placing of one or more glass articles in the frame and the ready removal. therefrom after dipping and will at the same time absolutely prevent the acid solution from havin access to the interior of the tumbler or other glass article, while permitting the acid to contact with the entire outer surface thereof.

The success of our invention is due to the provision of a novel and peculiar groove and part circumscribed, as also a packing,

preferably of rubber, adapted to cooperate with the mouth or rim of the tumbler or similar glass article, together with means for pressing the glass article into engagement therewith, as will appear more fully hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings :-.l igurc 1 is a side elevation showing a tumbler in position; Fig. 2, a vertical section thereof; Fig. 3, a plan view; Fig. 4, a plan view of the base with the upper part of the frame removed and showing the appearance of the tensionable material or fabric after it has been in use; Fig. 5, an enlarged sectional detail view through the base and the tensionable material; and Fig. (5, a plan view of the tensionable material.

\Ve have illustrated a frame adapted to hold but a single tumbler or other glass article, but the invention is usually carried out in practice by the duplication of this apparatus, in one complete device, adapted to hold a number of glass articles.

The parts of the frame, except the pres sure screw, and even that if desired, are made of some suitable material not affected by sulfuric and hydrofluoric acids or the acid solution into which the frame is to be dipped. Usually wood is employed, but we do not limit ourselves thereto.

The frame has a base 1 provided with a circular groove 2 whose walls 3 and 4 diverge from each other upwardly. The circular part 5 which is circumscribed by the groove is higher than the plane of the surface 6 in which the groove is made. In prae' tice, the groove 2 is one-eighth of an inch, more or less, and the circumscribed circular part 5 rises above the top 6 another one eighth of an inch, more or less. 0 do not confine ourselves to exact dimensions, but the above dimensions have boenfound in practice to successfully carry out the invention.

Secured in any suitable manner to the base 1 is an elastic or tensionable fabric or material 7. Ve preferably employ rubber. It is essential that the material or fabric 7 be adapted to resist the destructive effects of the acid, or substantially so. Pure rubber has been found by us to be eminently adapted for this purpose, but aside from the necessity of resisting the effect of the acid, the material must be of a nature which will stretch or yield to pressure as, when the tumbler or other article of glassware is secured in the frame. A convenient manner of securing the material or fabric 7 to the base 1 is by the detachable strips 8 held by suitable detachable fastenings 9 which fasten the edges of the fabric or material 7 in the rabbets 10 of the base, thereby stretching the fabric or material taut over the raised part 5 and also permitting the fabric or material 7 to be removed or replaced when desired.

The frame 11 is secured to the base 1 in any suit-able manner, preferably detachably, as shown at 12. Threaded through the upper part of the frame is a clamping screw 13 having a conical or pointed tip 14 so'that the point of contact with the tumbler or other piece of glassware 15 is minute and affords no appreciable exclusion of the acid contact with the base of the tumbler. The frame is so constructed that the tumbler 15 or other article of glassware can be inserted sidewise and it is then placed with its mouth or rim surrounding the circumscribed part 5 and is received in thegroove 2. when the screw 13 is tightened, it forces the edge or rim of the tmnbler down into the groove 2, but the fabric or material 7 being interposed between the edge of the tumbler and the groove, it isforced into the groove in advance of the edge of the tumbler. A screw packing action is obtained on the edge of the tumbler, the fabric or material 7 being stretched over the raised part 5 and preventing any of the acid from gaining access to the interior of the tumbler, due to the use of both the groove, the raised part 5, and the tensionable fabric or material 7 The provision of the sloping walls 3 and 4: insures a perfect packing of the edge of the tumbler without covering any part of the outer surface of the tumbler adjacent said rim or edge. Should such part be covered,

a rim would be left on the tumbler which would be perceptible to the touch, due to the action of the acid in eating away other parts of the glass. After the tumbler has been secured, the entire frame and tumbler are dipped for about one minute, more or less,

in the acid solution and then removed for.

washing in the usual manner.

'The device may be constructed so that it will hold one or a number of tumblers or similar articles of glassware, there being provided a separate clamping screw and separate groove and circumscribed raised part with superposed tensionable material or fabric for each tumbler or other article.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is :t-

l. A dipping frame for glassware having a base provided with a groove, a central part circumscribed by said groove, and a sheet of tensionable fabric or material stretched across said groove and having its edges secured to said base outside of said groove and adapted to be pressed into said groove and against the adjacent surface ofthe said central part.

2. A dipping frame for glassware having a base'provided with a central raised part provided with a'downwardly sloping wall, a shallow groove surrounding the foot of said wall, and asheet of tensionable fabric or material stretched across said groove and having its edges secured to said base outside of said groove and adapted to be pressed into said groove andfagainst the adjacent sloping wall of the said raised part.

3. Adipping frame for glassware having a base provided with a central raised part provided with a downwardly sloping wall adapted to fit easily into the article to be dipped, a groove at the footof said wall adapted to receive the edge of said article,

and a sheet of tensionable fabric or material stretched over said raised part and groove and havingits edges secured to said base outside of said groove, whereby when said article is placed upon said raised part and pressed into said groove it will cause said sheet to be forced into tight contact with its edge and adjacent inner surface.

4:. A dipping frame for glassware having a base provided with a groove having flar- HOVVARD WIGKHAM. LEO THOMAS HUGHES.

. Witnesses:

EDITH M. DUNN A. ALLEN Woonnnrr.

7 Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

